It Happened One Night
by lilkawa
Summary: Another take on how Darcy, Bingley, Elizabeth and Jane meet for the first time


_Pride and Prejudice_ doesn't belong to me.

Thanks, Miriam1, for reading and rereading.

It Happened One Night

"It will be great," Bingley told Darcy, "just you wait."

Darcy couldn't believe he had let Bingley talk him into coming to _The Great_ tonight. Honestly, he had a lot of work to do and on top of that he didn't like going out at night. It was a sort of rule with him, early bed early to rise, like his father had taught them. Dancing the night away had never made anyone happy – not happy in the ways that counted anyway.

Bingley called his rules the 'Darcy Excuses' and was always laughing at him about them, but Darcy usually stuck to his guns, apart from tonight; tonight he had somehow ended up with Bingley at the exclusive club, _The Great_. Truthfully, Darcy was eager to see why everyone was going on about this club.

The owner of the club was a young man that they had been at the university with and when he saw them, Dan Morgan came over to greet them and urged them to enjoy themselves. Darcy had to agree that the club was tastefully decorated and that Morgan had put a lot of thought into it. It had a dance floor, of course, but it also offered privacy to those who wanted to talk without interruption.

Bingley spotted two girls standing by the bar, and in true Bingley fashion, immediately went off and asked one of them to dance. Darcy watched them dance and thought of asking the other girl to dance, but decided to look around the club instead.

He was staring at the art pieces when Bingley joined him. "This is the most fun I've had in a long time," Bingley said, "this place is great." Darcy nodded. "I hope you're not going to spend the whole evening staring at the wall." Darcy shook his head. "Great," Bingley told him, "because I just told those two beautiful girls that we were going to join them in a few minutes."

Darcy took his eyes off the painting and looked at his friend, "Bingley, you didn't, I told you that I don't dance, especially with people I don't know."

"That's not a problem," Bingley told him laughing, "their names are Jane and Elizabeth Bennet. FYI, Jane is the one I was dancing with. Elizabeth is like you - she likes to be by herself."

Darcy looked over to where the girls were sitting. "No," he said to Bingley, "I am not in the mood t- ," he stopped. Elizabeth and Jane were talking and suddenly Elizabeth burst out laughing. Darcy couldn't remember what he had been saying; instead, he followed Bingley to the girls' table.

Jane and Bingley got up to dance and Darcy remained at the table with Elizabeth. "So, Charles tells us that you're Investment Bankers." Elizabeth said.

Darcy nodded, "But let's not talk about work, please."

They sat in silence for a few minutes and then Darcy asked her, "So what is it that you do?"

"I thought work was a taboo subject," she replied laughing. Darcy stared at her and she replied, "I'm in PR and I just landed a huge account, which is why we're here tonight, to celebrate."

"Congratulations," Darcy told her.

"So do you like to dance?" Elizabeth asked him.

"No," he replied immediately.

Elizabeth looked at him, wondering why he was in a place which he clearly didn't want to be in. She started to ask but changed her mind - he would only give a mono-syllabic answer and end the conversation; she decided to look at the other people in the club. She liked making up stories in her head about people.

"He's trying to impress her," she said aloud, looking at a couple.

"How do you know?" Darcy asked.

"He has that look about him," she replied cheekily.

"Really? 'He has that look'?" Darcy couldn't help but smile. The couple looked to him like most of the other couples in the room, rich and over dressed.

"I can read people," Elizabeth informed him smugly.

"So, what do you see when you look at me?" Darcy asked her.

"Rich, obsessed with work, loves his sister." Elizabeth replied promptly.

"Really? You get all that just by looking at me?"

"I know you're rich, you're Will Darcy, everybody knows you're rich. Remember that account that I just landed? It was with your firm for some big to-do. That's how I know that you're obsessed with work, I saw you at your office this week. You never even took a lunch break."

"You were at our offices this week?" Darcy couldn't believe he hadn't seen her at the office.

His thoughts must have shown on his face because Elizabeth explained, "We were in Human Resources so you might not have seen us, but we saw you."

"How do you know that I love my sister?"

"Georgiana Darcy, she showed up at your office and that was the only time you stopped working." Elizabeth replied, "And you've sent her three messages since you sat down." Darcy put his phone in his pocket.

"I saw her at your office, you must be so proud of her," Elizabeth told him. Darcy began to talk about Georgie, and after that, Elizabeth and Darcy didn't stop talking.

000

"Tonight was so much fun," Jane said as they left the club, "we should do it again soon."

"Yes," Bingley agreed.

"How about dinner, tomorrow?" Darcy suggested. Bingley looked at him in shock; Darcy was making dinner plans with people they had just met. "We'll pick you up at your flat, say about seven-ish." Elizabeth and Jane agreed.

"You see," Bingley told his friend, "I told you _The Great_ would be great."

Darcy smiled at his friend; he couldn't wait for tomorrow night.

000


End file.
